Puggie pug... the worlds quickest foster...

Hey Everyone! Meet foster number 4, Puggie!


Puggie came to me on Wednesday night and he will be going to his new foster home tomorrow morning... He only spent 2 days with me but he definintely made an impact.

Puggie came from a shelter in NJ. He was "supposedly"a stray who was between 3-4 years old.... The shelter said he was housebroken, friendly, and playful so the rescue thought he'd be a good little foster sibling for my Leroy. Well turned out the shelter straight LIED to us. LOL Puggie isn't 3-4... he aint even probably 5-6... When the volunteer originally went to pick him up she thought he was 10 years old... and the shelter staff even chuckled a bit when they told her that Puggie was 4 years old. Either way, Puggie came home with me and after a very stressful and anxious first night for him, he's been a real trouper and a perfect angel.

Puggie, at least it seemed to me was in really bad shape... most of his teeth had fallen out, or were in the process of falling out which causes his tounge to chronically hang out of the side of his mouth. His breathing was really laboured the first night... So much so that I thought he had pnemonia or some other serious respiratory problem. He's skin and bones and it just seems like moving around is a bit of an effort for him. He has a cataract on one of his eyes, impairing the visit in that eye, and hyperpigmentation bluring the vision in the other. He's not neutered. His ears haven't been cleaned out in YEARS.

It just makes me angry.

I just don't understand how someone could let their dog, a living creature, go on living like that for years. You didn't see his teeth falling out? You didn't notice that he was walking into things, and that there are large black scars on his eyeballs? I mean WTF

Despite the obvious years of neglect, Puggie is a total angel and mushball of love. He took to Leroy right away following him around the house, trying to hump him, or just lick on him. He tried so hard to play with Leroy on the first night, but he kept on losing his breath and I had to keep them separated because I thought he was going to keel over. By the 2nd night, Leroy and Puggie were sleeping together in Leroy's crate!?! I couldn't believe my eyes. LOL Leroy hates sleeping with other dogs... and doesn't love his crate. I've never seen him snuggle up to another dog in that way.

Puggie is so good natured with Leroy... here's a pic of him lying on Leroy's bed while Leroy is chewing it and trying to shake Puggie off...

Puggie doesn't really make much noise or make many demands. Most of the time he's been here, he's hung out in his crate... which I decked out with a new pillow and pillowcase for him, or he's hung out on one of Leroy's beds in the living room. After the initial burst of interest, Puggie hasn't really wanted to play much with Leroy, but he's incredibly good natured and ignores Leroy's crazy outbursts, or sits and just watches him... Puggie sleeps... a LOT... like most older pugs. As I type this Puggie is sleeping on Leroy's folded up crate liner with his little tounge just a hanging out of his mouth... content as can be.

I think he's even had a good influence on Leroy, who has been a little calmer than usual this evening.

Puggie is leaving me tomorrow to go to another foster home. I'm not sure if I have the stamina to be the kind of long-term foster home that Puggie will probably need. He was only with me for 2 days, but I've already kind of started falling for him... in the same way that I did for Bruno and like I probably will for any other old pug that comes into my path... I just can't believe someone sent this big lump of love to a shelter and I'm so glad that he's going to be going to a great home.

Goal #78- 1 month without eating out

11 days in- 33 meals down….

So this month I celebrated the 1 year mark of my 101 goals journey and started on one of my most difficult goals… goal #78- Don’t eat out for 1 month. Anyone who’s been even halfway following my blog(s) probably realizes by now that food/eating plays a huge part in my life. I also L.O.V.E. eating out. Trying new restaurants is probably my favorite activity, but unfortunately after living in NYC for 5+ years, my love of eating out has quickly turned from an occasional treat to an almost daily necessity.

I love to cook and I have to come straight home most nights to tend to the creature, so dinner is never a problem… . Breakfast and lunch are my biggest challenges… I’m pretty lazy and disorganized…. if you look at my list, like 80% of the goals were designed to help me resolve the lazy disorganization that plagues my life. Planning, making and packing a lunch the night before and THEN getting up in time to make and eat breakfast AND make coffee is no small feat for someone who’s been known to spend hours each night watching reality TV (instead of keeping a tidy house) and hit the snooze button up to an hour. The folks at Starbucks make it SOOOO easy to visit them every morning… smiling at you, and remembering what you order “skim milk in that grande iced coffee, right?’… so attentive… what better way to start your day? The lunch people aren’t much better…. Automatically offering me extra turnips on my chicken pita or the witty banter I’ve developed with the empanada guy… it puts that extra spark in my day…. Even though I know in my heart all that is just a ploy to keep me coming back.

So…. All that being said, the purpose of this goal is mainly to get me into the swing of becoming more organized about planning meals and eating routine meals at home. The goal is much more about being organized and disciplined, than saving money…. Saving money’s got its own goals :-p In light of the fact that this goal is really more about planning/organization than some sort of exercise in restraint, I’ve decided to make it a little bit more relaxed than originally planned. Originally I had planned on not eating ANY food that wasn’t prepared at home… meaning I couldn’t buy a red bull if I was dozing off at work, or a cookie if I wanted something sweet. I realized fairly early on in the month that if that was the case I wouldn’t be allowed to have any sweets that month or junk food, since I don’t have the willpower to have that stuff in my house…. A very unfortunate episode on the 5th day involving chicken broth, the trash can, a pan of homemade raspberry shortbread and tub of whole foods brownie bites served as a bleak reminder of what happens when there’s sweets in my house… but I digress.. I decided to focus on meals only with the goal being to prepare 3 meals a day for myself each day this month.
So meals have been going really well so far… 33 down! I really do feel more organized and put together. I haven’t quite gotten the hang of actually packing my food at night (like my mom has done for the past 20+ years), but I think I’m getting there.

20 days to go!

Thursday's Things.... Fall Wardrobe

The temperature is quickly dropping here in NYC which means winter, with its hot sweaters and itchy tights, are around the corner. :-( Thankfully we still have a few months of fall to mentally prepare ourselves for winter. Actually fall is one of my favorite seasons.... the beauty of the trees almost makes up for the falling temperatures and inability to wear sun dresses.

Anywhoo... one of the things that's most difficult about the "in-between" seasons (spring and fall) is what to wear. Every year I say I'm going to try and improve my fall wardrobe... and every year I look around, lust after beautiful, expensive pieces and dont' buy a thing. Looks like it's going to be another season of the same. See below for my fall wardrobe wishlist.

Blurred Blossoms Top
I'm really in love with watercolor type prints these days. This shirt would be SO great with a pair of wide leg jeans and a long or cropped cardigan.... or maybe slightly bloused with a skinny belt. It's a measly $58... compared to what's below that seems almost afforadable!


Curled Zinnia Dress
I never wear dresses in the fall... because I HATE wearing tights, but this dress might change my mind. I love the colors and I think it would really brighten my mood on a dreary fall day.... too bad it's $360


Climbing Vines Blouse:
Love this too! Beautiful, uplifting color. Would look great with some skinny jeans and heels.



Fosteriana Cardigan
I'm in love with printed cardigans these days (although I don't own any) and this is a great one! You can't see it too well but the pattern is a string of tulips. So cute for a measly $178!


And on the other end of the expensiveness spectrum.....

Floral Cardigan
A cute floral cardigan by Forever 21...


Floral Sweater Top
And another cute sweater top (at least I think it's cute, LOL) by Forever 21.

Please let me know if anyone would like to buy any of these for me, and I'll be happy to forward my mailing address :-)

Till next week....

N

Sea adventures- (new foods 8-10)

Had a nice little run of new foods this week, trying 3 delicacies from the sea: Octopus salad, Bagels and Lox and Sea Urchin. Some hits... some misses... see below.

Octopus Salad:

The octopus was probably the most pleasant and "normal" of the new foods that I ate. I think an octopus is really just a big squid (maybe?), so I wasn't really expecting it to taste much different than other squids.. The texture was pretty similar to calamari, but the octopus had a more distinct, sharper taste and the meaty center was surrounded by a fatty layer of skin. I really enjoyed the octopus salad. My boss said it wasn't really octopus because they sliced it and removed most of the legs... but whatever.. I'm still marking it off. Pretty tasty. It's definitely something I'd order again..







Bagels and Lox...
Hmmm I'm not 100% sure if I should count this since I've had smoked salmon before... and lox is just smoked salmon... but I've never had the combo together... and that's something, right? Right! Anyway... every week I treat myself to 1 bagel from Zucker's bagels and smoked fish down by my job. Usually I eat half a bagel with a little cream cheese, tomato and capers (mmm), but I figured I'd use this weeks bagel day to try lox. Apparently the traditional way to eat a bagel and lox is to add tomato, capers and red onion... so that's what I did... That sammich came to a whopping $10.05!?! Totally nuts, but for a good cause, right? Anyway my fancy bagel and lox sandwich tasted pretty much like bagels with smoked salmon.... obviously. :-p Wasn't the worse thing I've ever put in my mouth, but it didn't really excite me... if anything I think the taste of the salmon muddied the deliciousness of the tomato/caper combo. I think the consistency of the salmon bothers me more than the taste. Raw salmon still has a bit of crispness... crunch, but smoked salmon is just mushy. All in all, not bad ... but I'll stick with my tomato and capers.

Sea Urchin (actually Spaghetti with sea urchin and clams)
This was an interesting one... Sea Urchin- was on the list I posted a while back, honestly wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I know sea urchin looks like a spiny little ball, so I was kind of expecting to be eating slices of the outer part... assuming that although it "looks" spiky, the spikes were actually flexible... and would kind of have the consistenecy of calamari (LOL seeing a theme here?) I was wrong. The edible part of the urchin isn't the spiny outer portion, but the soft, gooey, innards, as seen in this pic.


As I said before I had no awareness of this, so I was a bit surprised when my Spaghetti with Sea Urchin and Clams showed up looking like spaghetti, clams and some orange booger looking things. My co-workers (who apparently thought I knew what sea urchin was) were quite amused by my face as I put the mushy, globby, blob in my mouth. It was very... blobby... and musky (as described by my co-worker Paul). I'm usually pretty tolerant of odd textures, but I don't know if I'd be able to get over the texture of sea urchin... slimy... blobby... boogery and snotty. The taste wasn't offensive... and as I continued eating, I did become slightly more convinced of how it added to the creamy pasta dish, but I don't think I could EVER eat any quantity of it on it's own. I could do very small pieces mixed, well, into a creamy sauce but the idea of eating it raw as sashimi or in sushi is a bit much for me.

So there are numbers 8,9 and 10. The octopus was pleasant, the sea urchin may deserve a second taste (under the right culinary circumstances) and the bagels and lox was "eh".

Any suggestions for what I should try next?

Shouldn't I be losing weight by now... (Salads 11-14)

Not losing any weight, but I've definitely been eating some tasty salad. Eleven to 14 are below...

Fast, grown-up potato salad-red potatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, whole grain mustard, capers and parsley (#30).

This was actually a pretty decent, grown up, low fat but high flavor version of potato salad. It's more of a dinner table potato salad than a cook out potato salad. I really liked it alot. Not the most miraculous thing I've ever eaten, but definitely could go in the rotation. Pictured below with my not so successful pork chops...
-Would I eat this salad again? - Sure. It was pretty tasty

-Would I serve this to company? - Yes, it would be a nice compliment to a simple American meal.
- Did I learn anything from this salad experience? - You don't need mayo for potato salad.
- Salad rating: A-

Canned salmon,capers, celery, Greek yogurt, and lemon juice in endive leaves (#61).
This "salad" wasn't that great. I used canned sockeye salmon and greek yogurt. It tasted pretty much like a tuna salad... with salmon. I decided to serve it in endive leaves... just for fun. I think the bitter green was a bit too bitter for the salad. This may be a good, higher end substitute for a tuna sandwich if it were put between some good quality bread, but as it is I could take it or leave it.
-Would I eat this salad again? - Probably not as a salad
-Would I serve this to company? - May bring it to a picnic as a fancier version of a tuna sandwich.
- Did I learn anything from this salad experience? - Not really... I don't use mayo on much, but it seems yogurt and lemon juice may be a good replacement if I ever were to use it.
- Salad rating: C+

Black plums, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, celery, red onion, grilled chicken, dried marjoram and oregano and chopped almonds with field greens (#81).

So delicious... I had actually been thinking of this salad since Monday. Since I discovered my love of Balsamic vinegar, I could just imagine how great of a pairing it would be with the tart and juicy plums. I wasn't disappointed. SO. GOOD. The balsamic-y plums with the chicken, crunchy almonds and cool celery were amazing. I thought I might put goat cheese in it, but it totally didn't need it. When I make this again I might cut the plums smaller so there's more delicious plummyness to go around.
-Would I eat this salad again? - yes. I'll probably eat this again tonight
-Would I serve this to company? - Absolutely! Would make a great main dish salad
- Did I learn anything from this salad experience? - Plums and Balsamic vinegar... mmmm
- Salad rating: A+!

Quinoa, spinach, orange zest and juice, olive oil, honey, sliced oranges, dried cranberries, chopped red onion and almonds (#95).
Interesting salad. I decided to serve it with sliced baby spinach. There wasn't too much savory in the salad. I wasn't that keen on the first few bites... It just seemed to sweet and kind of ordinary for me. I could see a LOT of people really liking the salad, grains, oranges, cranberry, honey... It's a gold mine for people who like salad with fruit, but I wasn't too impressed. It did grow on me after a few bites... and more black pepper and honey. I feel like there was a spice that could have been added... but I'm not sure what it is. Decent, very nutritious salad though... especially for those who don't love grains and love sweets :-) Extreme close up below... Very pretty salad!
-Would I eat this salad again? - Probably. It's nutritious and I generally have the ingredients on hand.
-Would I serve this to company? - Sure. Would be a good lunch salad for a vegetarian
- Did I learn anything from this salad experience? - Hmm... not really
- Salad rating: B+

Thursdays things... Hands free edition

So instead of randomly posting things that I like throughout the week, I'm going to try and be more organized (and spare y'all 15 posts about lipgloss and kitchen gadgets) and designate 1 post a week to talking about a few things. You're welcome! :-p

So what do I want this week? Well I'm a simple gal who loves to entertain and only has 1 pot holder (no... not 1 set... just 1 lonely pot holder... not sure where the other is) so these serving platters caught my eye. They have built in handles! And they are really pretty.

I love them! No more trying to carry hot platters to the table... or even worse bringing the cooking pot to the table and putting it down on top of a rolled up cloth napkin.... not that I've ever done that.... Moving on...

Second thing this week... I'm not generally the most organized chick in the world and this is highlighted every day as I try and prepare myself for my daily dog walks.... this involves finding poop baggies, my keys, some treats and usually my cell phone. I then have to figure out how I'm going to carry all this crap and still wrangle my bi-polar dog (he's either totally nuts, or totally lazy on walks). My solution to this: the fanny pack! A totally hands free solution. It seems fanny packs have been making a come back... I'm not talking about the standard order, 1990s, West Virginia trailer park fanny packs, but awesome, modern utilitarian versions that are popping up today. For some reason I figured I could find a few "styles" at American Apparel... and they didn't disappoint. Here are a few choices...

Red Vinyl....

Denim...

Shiny Black Vinyl...

Hmm... maybe I should just chuck the whole idea and just go with this?
HAHAHA Just kidding. Leroy's chunky butt would break my back.

What do you guys think? Can I get away with this, or is American Apparel just trying to fool us into thinking these are ok by pairing them with tight dresses and pouty faced models... American Apparel is totally around the corner... So I may have to get on this today LOL.

I've also saw a few really cool leather hip bags that I would totally wear out to a bar/club/date... but i think they're too fancy for dog walking.

Pork, it's what's for dinner! (Recipes 29 and 30)

Do y'all remember those Pork commercials? Or was it "Beef...it's what's for dinner".. Either way, I've been eating a heck of a lot of pork this summer. I actually had never really cooked or ate pork until this year... I think it started off with that damn jerk pork that my friend Julian was always eating..... mmm porky, spicy, fatty goodness... Anywhoo, in the last few months I've discovered that the "other" white meat can be very versatile and flavorful. I like it better with sweeter marinades (like maple and fruit sauces) and it's great in Asian stirfry's and just straight off the grill.

I made 2 pork tenderloin recipes within the last week... one hit, one miss

The hit...
Grilled pork with cherry chutney.

Cherries were on sale at Whole Foods the week for $1.99/pounds the week before so I bought a truckload. I can't eat cherries raw... they give me bubbly guts, so I figured I'd make them into chutney. If you haven't pitted cherries before, you totally should! It's fun and mess and when you're done it looks like you killed and butterflied a small animal on your cutting board...

Anywhoo... The recipe essentially made a chutney out of fresh cherries, onions, cherry preserves, balsamic vinegar and allspice. The chutney was really tasty. And who knew it was so easy to make chutney? I cooked up the pork tenderloin on my new electric grill (I love it!) and served it along side a green salad and some quinoa. It was extra tasty. I seasoned the pork only with salt, pepper and garlic powder and it came out beautifully. The chutney complimented the pork well, and my girl Anafidelia had the great idea of trying the same recipe using sour cherries and putting the chutney over a pepper crusted steak.... ideas... Anywhoo, here's a pic of our meal

The second meal was the "miss".
I got a very promising looking recipe off one one of the blogs I subscribe too "Simply Recipes". the recipe was for "Mom's Perfect Pork Chops"... well I don't know who's mamma made these, but they sho wasn't perfect to me. The recipe called for you to toast whole coriander and cumin see, grind finely and make a dry rub adding salt, pepper and sugar. Sounded good to me. I love coriander and cumin. The recipe then called for you to pan fry the chops. I decided to go the healthier route and use my trusty electric grill. Bad Idea. The rub just sort of sat on top of the chops in a powdery mess. I could kind of see where the recipe was going... but the execution was off. It could have been because I grilled instead of fried? Maybe the pan frying would have carmalized the sugar in the dry rub and turned it into a sort of sweet and savory glaze instead of a powdery mess. Oh well. I made a salad from my list to go with this "Grown up, fast potato salad" and a side of sauteed vinegar. I threw threw the rest of the pork away.... which is HUGE for me as I never throw anything away. Here's a pic of my sad pork meal...

Oh well... that's my pork saga so far this summer. Anyone have any great pork recipes to share?